Dave, This sounds wonderful! Can you recommend a short novel to use at the beginning of fourth grade? When is your book coming out? Cathy -------------- Original message from "Dave Middlebrook" <davemiddlebr...@verizon.net>: --------------
> Hi Diane, > > I'll start with a simple idea: Try scrolling a short novel that the students > have read, and post the scroll on the wall somewhere in the room. Do a > quick walk-through summary -- literally, by walking along the scroll and > saying what happens. As you walk and talk, make marks or use sticky notes > along the scroll. You'll come back to these later. Encourage your students > to interrupt you as you are doing this. They may want to mention something > that you missed -- for example, an observation about the plot or the > characters, or some detail. Others may want to weigh in, as well. > Encourage conversation. Post sticky notes to record student observations. > Have them tell you where the notes should go. If a student needs to find a > particular event so that a note can be posted there, have the other students > help -- tell them that their job is to be detectives. If, for instance, one > student finds an event that happened before the one in question, that's a > useful clue as to where to look. Help your students be strategic about > bracketing and homing in on specific parts. These are useful searching > skills that are even more important in bound books. > > If you let the students engage and share their thoughts, you will likely not > make it through your summary. I'd consider that a success! Student > engagement in the conversation is the real goal. You're walk-through is > just a conversation-starter. The scroll will help your students remember > the story. It will help them generate questions and inferences. I will > help them determine importance. It will help them with sequencing, > recalling details, and putting it all together for a much richer > comprehension. > > There are significant differences between the process of doing this by > paging through a bound book and doing this on a scroll. The spatial > diimension -- the physical sense of the scroll's length and of where > different observations tie to the text (the scatter-plot trail of sticky > notes -- is very powerful. The fact that you and your students can see it > all at once is very powerful. > > You can do a lot with scrolls. If this sounds like it might work for you, > then save it and use it. Contact me if you want to talk through the lesson > in more detail. Or if this doesn't sound right for you, tell me what you > might be starting off with next Fall and I'll suggest a way that scrolls can > help improve the lesson. > > I hope that this is helpful. Thanks for your interest! > > - Dave > > Dave Middlebrook > The Textmapping Project > A resource for teachers improving reading comprehension skills instruction. > www.textmapping.org | Please share this site with your colleagues! > USA: (609) 771-1781 > dmiddlebr...@textmapping.org > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Diane Smith" > To: > Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 9:24 PM > Subject: [MOSAIC] Textmapping for beginners > > > > > > > > Hi! > > I am going to be teaching fourth graders next fall and just heard about > > the idea of textmapping. I find it intriquing. No one I know has heard of > > this concept at my school, so my students will not have any previous > > experience with it. Can you give suggestions on how to begin and types of > > text to use? > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Mosaic mailing list > > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
